The Commons Treasury committee has today criticised the big banks for failing to open up to competition.

In a damning report, the cross-party committee of MPs warns that current accounts and credit cards are often too complex and lack transparency. The committee concludes that a tougher regulatory regime is required to ensure the consumer gets a fair deal.

Forum Response: Consumers' Association

Ashleye Sharpe, head of money research at Which?, told ePolitix.com: "The 'No Interest' campaign intends to put an end to the £500 million 'rip-off' of customers by the Big Four banks. They rely on customer fear of moving direct debits and lack of awareness of better deals to maintain their market leadership, instead of offering excellent rates and service. We're delighted to see these figures show that more and more customers of the Big Four banks are voting with their wallets and refusing to put up with dreadful rates of interest and poor service.

"We have set up a website, www.switchwithwhich.co.uk, to help all consumers to find the current accounts offering the best rates and best service for their circumstances.

"The Big Four banks will issue their latest results in the next few days. They should act on our challenge and show some interest in their 25 million customers. If they don't, this new research makes it clear that they could find themselves with fewer customers and ultimately lower profits ."

Forum Response: Lloyds TSB

A spokeswoman for Lloyds TSB told ePolitix.com: "We believe our current accounts offer excellent value to our customers. Customers choose their current accounts for a variety of reasons and we continue to attract customers from our competitors."

Forum Response: Barclays

A spokeswoman for Barclays told ePolitix.com: "Competition is fierce with a huge number of players each trying to win business and customers from each other.

"The difficulty of account switching is a triumph of perception over reality, the process is simple and the vast majority are switched on day one.

"We agree that APR's, originally introduced at the behest of consumer groups, are complex and need clarification. We fully support their revision and are already working with the DTI to achieve this.

"Barclays is active in the provision of basic bank accounts, our cash card has been hugely successful, one in four current accounts we open is a basic bank account. We already have 160,000 account holders and continue to open new accounts at the rate of 8000 a month.

"In the small business area, we have been working with the OFT since the Competition Commission report was published in March, and will be offering customers either interest on current accounts or free money transmission by January as required by government. As we have consistently said we believe that price regulation does not improve competition."

Forum Response: Federation of Small Businesses

A spokesman for the FSB told ePolitix.com: "Small business will be pleased that the Treasury committee has thrown its weight behind the conclusions that there is insufficient competition in small business banking and that the cost of this monopoly is borne by small firms.

"We are pleased that the committee has picked up on our recommendation that bank account switching needs to be trouble-free and timely, and welcome the committee's attempts to ensure that remedies areintroduced without further delay."

Forum Response: National Consumer Council

A spokeswoman for the NCC told ePolitix.com: "We agree with the committee's finding that there is room for improvement when it comes to providing clearer information for consumers. Banks need to make it easier for their customers to understand the various options, particularly when it comes to personal loans and credit cards.

"We also support the committee's conclusion that banks are, at present, not doing enough to promote the existence of universal bank accounts."

Forum Response: British Bankers' Association

William Mason, executive director of the British Bankers' Association, told ePolitix.com: "This appears to be a vote of no confidence in the Competition Commission and the worrying thing is that we have the prospect of yet another investigation. The committee was not convinced that price controls were the appropriate solution in securing competition, distort the market and can have the opposite effect of what is intended."

"The industry is well aware of the problem. APRs are calculated in accordance with rules laid down in the Consumer Credit Act but there isn't a single workable solution that covers all circumstances. The APR works well with fixed term loans with fixed interest rates and regular repayments but with revolving credit there are many variables such as fluctuating balance and different introductory offers.

"The industry is working on this with the government to find a way of providing better clarity for consumers. Recent changes under the Banking Code have already introduced an indicative interest figure on credit card statements and we are pleased to see that the committee welcomes this"

"Moving your bank account isn't difficult, although there seems to be a general perception that it is. Your new bank will do most of the work for you. There is healthy competition in the banking market with many different providers offering many different types of account. Different people will want different things from their bank and it's important that you match your requirements with what the bank offers."